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Copyright © 2007 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without permission is prohibited. ISBN-13: 978-1-4262-0211-7 ISBN-10: 1-4262-0211-3 Wells, Spencer, 1969Deep ancestry: inside the Genographic Project : the landmark DNA quest to decipher our distant past / by Spencer Wells. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7922-6215-8 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Genographic Project. 2. Human evolution. 3. DNA--Evolution. 4. Human genetics. I. Title. QH371W45 2006 599.93'5--dc22 2006021421
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To Kim McKay, for asking the right question
ONTENTS
Introduction Chapter One The Block Chapter Two Odine’s Story: The Exception Chapter Three Margaret’s Story: The Hearth Chapter Four Phil’s Story: The Ice Chapter Five Virumandi’s Story: The Beach Chapter Six Julius’s Story: The Cradle Epilogue Appendix: Haplogroup Descriptions Glossary Further Reading About the Author Author Acknowledgments and Illustration Credits Index
NTRODUCTION
n June 26, 2000, two geneticists stood with President Bill Clinton in the East Room of the White House. It was the end of a long journey for these two scientists as well as a public show of unity after a hard-fought battle to stake claim on the first complete sequence of the human genome—the 2.85 billion units that make up our genes. Francis Collins, a physician and a devout Christian, had led the publicly funded Human Genome Project. Craig Venter, taking his cues from Silicon Valley and the tech boom of the 1990s, had formed a private company to claim the same prize. Their rivalry would accelerate the pace of work to such an extent that the date of completion arrived a year earlier than expected. It was a great day to be a scientist, and I remember watching the event broadcast over the Internet from my laboratory in Oxford, hanging on every word. What the announcement that day meant to science paled in comparison to what it will eventually mean to the public at large. That is why the U.S. president, arguably the most powerful man in the world at that time, was making the announcement rather than a spokesperson from the National Institutes of Health or the Department of Energy, which had funded much of the 13-year project. As Clinton said, it was the completion of “the most important, most wondrous map ever produced by humankind.” This moment in many ways marked the beginning of the genomic era. Today the language of genetics has entered the zeitgeist of the modern age. References to DNA are used to sell everything from cars to computers. Genetics has become
a genie of sorts, promising to grant our wishes with the magic spell of its hidden secrets. During the press conference at the White House, Clinton joked about living to 150. With advances in genetics this may actually be possible by the end of the 21st century, as our understanding of human diseases and aging expands. Almost daily, geneticists take incredible leaps forward in our understanding of ourselves. LOOKING BACK While much of the world that day was peering into the fu